DISNEYLAND PARIS HOLIDAYS

Disneyland Paris was inaugurated on April 12 in 1992 in Marne-la-Vallée, a new town in the commune of Chessy in Seine-et-Marnein located in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It was the second Disneyland to be opened outside the United States of America after Disneyland Tokyo which started in 1983.

Disneyland Resort Paris is a holiday and recreational resort and today it has 2 theme parks, retail shops, dining options, an entertainment district and seven Disneyland Paris hotels. The expansive complex is located at a distance of around 32 kms from the center of Paris. Disneyland Paris Holidays are very popular among European tourists and now the resort receives over 15 million visitors every year. In 2008, it was the most popular tourist destination in all of Europe.

Disneyland Paris is operated by Euro Disney S.C.A., a French company whose 39.78 percent stock is owned by The Walt Disney Company. Saudi Prince Alwaleed owns 10 percent of the stock while the rest is distributed among public shareholders.

The construction of Disneyland Paris was marked by a number of controversies and protests by famous French personalities and French labor unions. Another setback for Disneyland Paris came when, after the inauguration, visitors, occupancy and revenues could not match projections. In 1995, the resort which was called Euro Disney Resort till then was renamed to Disneyland Paris and in the same year, Disneyland Paris saw its first quarterly profit.

"Walt Disney Studio Parks", which was the second theme park at Disneyland Paris was inaugurated on March 16th 2002. Disneyland Paris tickets started selling, business flourished and there was no looking back after that. With increase in popularity and with the provision of excellent entertainment options, Disneyland Paris breaks became the first choice for holiday makers around Europe and Disneyland Paris became the most visited tourist destination of Europe by August 2008. Disneyland Paris packages which included accommodation, food, site-seeing etc. also started becoming popular.

Referring once again to the conception stage of Disneyland Paris, the thought process to start a theme park in Europe on similar lines as the Disneyland in California started way back in 1972. However, Tokyo Disneyland could be opened only in 1983 in Japan under the able leadership and guidance of E.Cardon Walker. This theme park was an instant success and gained popularity within no time. This boosted the idea of having more international sites.

Dick Nunis and Jim Cora, who were the heads of Disney's theme park division, came up with about 1200 potential sites for a theme park in Europe by late 1984. However, by March 1985, after much brainstorming and analysis, there were just four sites which remained in contention. Out of these four, two potential sites were located in Spain and two in France.

Initially, Disney showed keen interest in a location in southern France near Toulon, close to Marseille, but when substantial layers of bedrock were discovered under the site, the project was not considered feasible for further persuasion. Finally, the present location of the site was given a nod and the rural town of Marne-la-Vallee was selected as the final destination for the Disneyland theme park in Europe. The location was selected very strategically as it was in close proximity to Paris and was centrally located in Western Europe. The target audience at that point of time were about 68 million people who resided in the vicinity of about four hours drive from the town and another 300 million people who could approach the town by taking a flight of less than 2 hours.

A 20 square kilometer site was finalized for Disneyland Paris and the first set of legal papers was signed in December 1985 between the French government and Michael Eisner, CEO of Disney at that time. Following this development, the construction the site started in August 1988 and later by December 1990 Disney opened an information hub called 'Espace Euro Disney' for public to acquire knowledge about the theme park and the work in progress. Later on, plans to open a theme park close to Disneyland Paris which would be based on the entertainment industry also took shape.

Disneyland Paris was a massive project and with its huge potential, tourists from varied places were expected to visit the place. In order to manage so many visitors, it was finalized that 5,200 Hotel rooms owned by Disney would be constructed within the compound. A team of experienced architects comprising of Michael Graves, Frank Gehry, Stanley Tigerman, Robert Venturi and Robert A.M.Stern along with the management at Disney came up with a unique theme of constructing each hotel in a unique American style. It was decided that each hotel would depict a different region of America and all its construction and decor would be done accordingly.

Seven hotels were built in the first phase of development when Disneyland Paris opened in April 1992. There were 5800 rooms collectively in these seven hotels. It is expected that Disneyland Paris will have 18,200 rooms by 2017 located at varying distances from the park. These hotels are a good option for people who plan specifically for Disneyland Paris holidays.

Frank Gehry designed a shopping, entertainment and dining complex based on Walt Disney World's Downtown Disney. It had towers of bronze colored stainless steel and oxidized silver beneath a huge awning of lights. This popular complex opened as Festival Disney. Disneyland Paris map shows all these inside one huge Disney complex.

Approximately 14,000 people were given employment in Disneyland Paris to cater to the estimated 55,000 visitors who come in daily. Moreover, 29 restaurants were built and opened inside Disneyland Paris offering different menus at varied prices to visitors with different preferences. Disney's policy of not permitting alcoholic beverages within the premises of park continued here as well.

With all this and much more to expect and enjoy at Disneyland Paris, the visitors keep growing every year. Disneyland Paris holidays have undoubtedly become the best option for people of all age groups in Europe to relax and enjoy a leisure time.

Many agents and websites sell attractive Disneyland Paris deals or Disneyland Paris offers. So just pick a suitable Disneyland Paris package and get ready for a holiday of a lifetime.